Far West

Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on Stockton, Calif., to D from "selective default" after the city said it would file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded various debt supported by Stockton, Calif.'s general fund to Caa3 after the city announced it would skip payments as it enters bankruptcy.

The municipal market will carefully watch the bankruptcy of Stockton, Calif., set to become the third largest debt issuer to file for Chapter 9 protection.

The Stockton, Calif. City Council voted Tuesday night to file for bankruptcy as part of a plan to try to keep the city solvent after city officials said negotiations with creditors failed.

The battle between San Jose and Santa Clara County over tax revenue from the city's former redevelopment agency has gotten ugly.

Stockton's City Council will consider whether it will become the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday night after negotiations with creditors ended on Monday.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer has tentatively set a $10 billion revenue anticipation note sale for August as part of the state's annual cash flow balancing act.

The Orange County Employees Retirement System has hired Girard Miller as its new chief investment officer.

New Rule G-43 requires that broker's brokers make reasonable efforts to obtain fair and reasonable prices when conducting secondary-market "bid-wanted" auctions.

While the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's new accounting standards announced Monday will improve financial reporting for public pension plans they also will put added pressure on cash-strapped state and local governments to reform their systems.